Plugin Name	Slideshow Wp
Type of Vulnerability	XSS (Cross-Site Scripting)
CVE Number	CVE-2026-1885
Urgency	Medium
CVE Publish Date	2026-02-10
Source URL	CVE-2026-1885

Technical Advisory — Authenticated Stored XSS Vulnerability in Slideshow Wp (≤ 1.1) and How to Protect Your WordPress Sites

Date: February 10, 2026
Severity: Moderate (CVSS 6.5) — immediate attention recommended for all WordPress sites leveraging the Slideshow Wp plugin (versions up to 1.1).
CVE Identifier: CVE-2026-1885
Required Privilege for Exploit: Contributor (authenticated user)
Vulnerability Type: Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) via the sswpid attribute of the sswp-slide shortcode

---

At Managed-WP, we continuously monitor and respond to emerging WordPress security threats. This advisory breaks down the details of the Slideshow Wp vulnerability, exploitation methods, immediate mitigations you can put in place, and long-term security strategies — all in a clear, action-oriented format designed for WordPress site owners, administrators, and developers.

---

Executive Summary

• The Slideshow Wp plugin, up to version 1.1, suffers from a stored XSS vulnerability. The plugin fails to properly sanitize the sswpid attribute in the sswp-slide shortcode, allowing authenticated contributors to inject malicious JavaScript that gets stored and executed in visitors’ browsers.
• This stored payload affects all users who view infected content, including visitors with high privileges, thereby escalating risk beyond the contributor role.
• Potential impacts include session hijacking, unauthorized actions, SEO spam injection, or malicious redirects triggered by the embedded script.
• Short-term recommendations: disable or remove the vulnerable plugin, apply WAF virtual patch rules to block exploit attempts, and sanitize existing content hosting the malicious shortcode.
• Long-term defenses include enforcing strict user privileges, improving input validation and output escaping, implementing Content Security Policies (CSP), and leveraging managed virtual patching services for ongoing protection.

---

Understanding the Vulnerability

WordPress shortcodes allow embedding dynamic content via attributes. The vulnerable Slideshow Wp plugin registers an sswp-slide shortcode that takes a sswpid attribute. Unfortunately, the plugin outputs this attribute without adequate sanitization or escaping, enabling an authenticated Contributor to inject stored JavaScript into post content.

Because the malicious code is saved in the database, it will be served and executed in anyone’s browser viewing that page — typical stored XSS attack behavior.

Key facts:

• Exploitation requires a user with Contributor-level access but impacts all visitors.
• Injected scripts run client-side when the shortcode is rendered.
• The vulnerability manifests specifically in the sswpid attribute within the shortcode.

---

Potential Impacts of Exploitation

• Stealing of authentication cookies and session tokens if appropriate cookie flags are missing.
• Execution of privileged actions on behalf of administrators via CSRF combined with the XSS.
• Injection of defacement content, SEO spam, or malicious redirects — all damaging to site credibility and SEO.
• Facilitation of further client-side attacks or malware distribution.
• Leakage of sensitive information to malicious third parties.

Although the CVSS score is moderate, the persistence and reach of stored XSS make this vulnerability a high priority for remediation.

---

Common Exploitation Scenarios

1. An attacker with Contributor access embeds malicious JavaScript in a slide shortcode attribute, which then executes for every user who loads the content.
2. Malicious shortcodes are placed in widgets, custom blocks, or other shortcode-enabled content areas, broadening attack surface.
3. Targeted attacks on administrators by leveraging stored XSS in backend views or admin-facing content.

Note: Contributor accounts by default cannot publish posts directly but can submit for review or create previews that can be exploited in some workflows.

---

How to Detect If You Are Affected

1. Verify your plugin version via:
   • WordPress Dashboard → Plugins → Installed Plugins → Slideshow Wp
   • Or with WP-CLI: wp plugin get slideshow-wp --field=version
2. Search post content for the shortcode and suspicious sswpid attributes:

   SELECT ID, post_title FROM wp_posts WHERE post_content LIKE '%[sswp-slide%sswpid%]%';
       

3. Use WP-CLI scripts to locate shortcode usages containing suspicious payloads (see detection examples above).
4. Audit contributor/editor accounts for suspicious activity or edits including the vulnerable shortcode.
5. Analyze server and WAF logs for patterns targeting sswpid or shortcode-based injection attempts.

---

Immediate Mitigation Steps

1. Disable or remove the Slideshow Wp plugin immediately if your version is ≤ 1.1.
2. Restrict contributor privileges temporarily, disabling unknown or suspicious contributor accounts.
3. Sanitize stored content: Run careful WP-CLI or SQL commands to remove or blank out sswpid attributes:

   wp search-replace '\[sswp-slide([^\]]*?)sswpid="[^"]*"' '[sswp-slide$1sswpid=""]' --all-tables --dry-run
       

   Review results carefully, then re-run without --dry-run to apply changes.

4. Implement or strengthen Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict script execution scope.
5. Rotate sensitive credentials and reset passwords if compromise is suspected.
6. Monitor logs and alerts for further suspicious behavior.

---

Developer Guidance: Neutralizing the Vulnerability in Code

If you can’t immediately upgrade or remove the plugin, harden shortcode processing by sanitizing sswpid attributes in a site-specific filter. For example, add this PHP snippet to a custom plugin or your theme’s functions.php:

<?php
add_filter( 'shortcode_atts_sswp-slide', function( $out, $pairs, $atts ) {
    if ( isset( $out['sswpid'] ) ) {
        $out['sswpid'] = preg_replace( '/[^A-Za-z0-9_-]/', '', $out['sswpid'] );
    } else {
        $out['sswpid'] = '';
    }
    return $out;
}, 10, 3 );

Always escape attribute output using esc_attr() when rendering HTML:

echo '<div data-sswpid="' . esc_attr( $sswpid ) . '"></div>';

Ultimately, the plugin author should fix this in official releases by validating and sanitizing inputs properly.

---

Recommended WAF / Virtual Patching Rules

A Web Application Firewall (WAF) can block malicious exploit attempts before they reach your WordPress site. Here are example rules to block suspicious sswpid inputs and shortcode exploit patterns. Adapt them as needed for your firewall solution and test on a staging environment:

# Block requests where sswpid parameter contains dangerous script tokens
SecRule ARGS_NAMES|ARGS "@rx (?i)sswpid" "phase:2,log,deny,msg:'Block sswpid with suspicious content',chain"
    SecRule ARGS:sswpid "@rx (?i)(<script|javascript:|onerror=|onload=|%3Cscript|%3Cimg)" "t:none"

# Block shortcode injection attempts containing HTML tags
SecRule REQUEST_BODY "@rx \[sswp-slide[^\]]+sswpid\s*=\s*['\"][^'\"]*]*>" "phase:2,log,deny,msg:'Block sswp-slide sswpid with HTML injection'"

# Positive validation to allow numeric only sswpid
SecRule ARGS:sswpid "!@rx ^[0-9]+$" "phase:2,log,deny,msg:'sswpid not numeric - blocked'"

Why virtual patch? It buys crucial time to protect your site ahead of vendor fixes by stopping exploit traffic at the perimeter.

---

Long-Term Security Recommendations

1. Least Privilege: Regularly review and restrict user roles. Only trusted accounts should have contributor or higher privileges.
2. Shortcode Control: Limit which roles can use shortcodes and disallow unfiltered HTML where possible.
3. Sanitize and Escape: Encourage plugin/theme developers to rigorously validate inputs and escape outputs using WordPress standard functions (esc_attr(), esc_html(), wp_kses()).
4. Content Security Policy (CSP): Deploy strict CSP headers to reduce XSS impact by controlling allowed script sources.
5. Cookie Security: Enforce HttpOnly and Secure flags on cookies to reduce theft risk.
6. Automated Monitoring: Use scanning tools and managed virtual patching to continuously detect and block new threats.
7. Patch Management: Keep all plugins and themes up to date; implement a tested update pipeline.

---

Incident Response Checklist

1. Isolate: Disable the vulnerable plugin and take the site offline if active exploitation is suspected.
2. Scope: Find all instances of malicious shortcode usage and audit editing activity.
3. Eradicate: Remove malicious content and sanitize the database. Restore clean backups if needed.
4. Recover: Confirm site cleanliness before restoring service.
5. Post-Incident: Conduct integrity audits and enhance preventative measures to avoid re-infection.

Logs from scanners and WAFs can be invaluable for tracking and understanding exploitation attempts.

---

Example: Finding and Cleaning Suspicious sswp-slide Shortcodes

Always back up your database before running any commands.

Locate posts containing the shortcode:

wp db query "SELECT ID, post_title FROM wp_posts WHERE post_content LIKE '%[sswp-slide%';"

Run a dry-run replacement to clear suspicious sswpid values:

wp search-replace '\[sswp-slide([^\]]*?)sswpid="[^"]*"' '[sswp-slide$1sswpid=""]' --all-tables --dry-run

If results look correct, run without --dry-run to apply changes:

wp search-replace '\[sswp-slide([^\]]*?)sswpid="[^"]*"' '[sswp-slide$1sswpid=""]' --all-tables

---

How Managed-WP Protects You

Managed-WP combines continuous vulnerability scanning, managed virtual patching (WAF rules), and incident response support to shield WordPress sites from vulnerabilities like this stored XSS flaw — often before official patches are available.

Core benefits include:

• Custom-managed WAF rules engineered to block shortcode injection attempts.
• Automated malware scanning for detection of stored XSS and other threats.
• Clear remediation guidance and hands-on support for content cleanup.
• Real-time monitoring and immediate alerting on suspicious administrative or front-end activity.

Whether you prefer to implement virtual patch rules yourself or leverage fully managed protection, Managed-WP offers timely, expert coverage.

---

Immediate Steps to Protect Your Site — Free Plan Available

You can start protecting your WordPress site right away with our free baseline protection plan that guards against common threats including stored XSS:

• Managed-WP Basic (Free): Includes managed firewall, Web Application Firewall (WAF), malware scanning, and protection engineered around OWASP Top 10 risks.
• An efficient layer of defense while you plan longer-term remediation or plugin upgrades.

Sign up now for immediate protection:
https://managed-wp.com/free

---

Practical Security Checklist for Site Administrators

1. Identify plugin version: Confirm if Slideshow Wp is ≤ 1.1 — treat as vulnerable.
2. Containment: Deactivate the vulnerable plugin or enforce strict WAF rules immediately.
3. Discovery: Scan and audit all content for sswp-slide shortcode usage and suspicious attributes.
4. Sanitize: Remove or neutralize malicious shortcode attributes using WP-CLI or database tools.
5. Monitoring: Enable detailed logging on administrative and front-end interactions.
6. Patch & Review: Apply official fixes when available; maintain virtual patching and monitoring until fully secured.
7. Preventive Measures: Strengthen role permissions, apply CSPs, and verify plugin security before deployment.

---

Final Thoughts from a Dedicated WordPress Security Team

Stored XSS vulnerabilities, especially those in shortcodes, are a frequent and dangerous category of WordPress plugin flaws. With multiple editors contributing content, the risk multiplies. Defense-in-depth is the only reliable strategy:

• Enforce least privilege on user roles consistently.
• Sanitize inputs and escape outputs rigorously in all custom code.
• Use managed virtual patching (WAF) to block exploit attempts before fixes are released.
• Continuously scan content and monitor for suspicious behavior to detect issues early.
• Have an incident response plan prepared to remediate rapidly if a compromise occurs.

If you want expert help applying these measures or enabling managed virtual patching and scanning, our Managed-WP security experts are ready to assist. Start with our free plan here:

https://managed-wp.com/free

Remember: attackers rely on easy and persistent vectors. Protect your WordPress site at every layer, always treating user-generated content as potentially hostile until properly sanitized.

— Managed-WP Security Team

---

Take Proactive Action — Secure Your Site with Managed-WP

Don’t risk your business or reputation due to overlooked plugin flaws or weak permissions. Managed-WP provides robust Web Application Firewall (WAF) protection, tailored vulnerability response, and hands-on remediation for WordPress security that goes far beyond standard hosting services.

Exclusive Offer for Blog Readers: Access our MWPv1r1 protection plan — industry-grade security starting from just USD 20/month.

• Automated virtual patching and advanced role-based traffic filtering
• Personalized onboarding and step-by-step site security checklist
• Real-time monitoring, incident alerts, and priority remediation support
• Actionable best-practice guides for secrets management and role hardening

Get Started Easily — Secure Your Site for USD 20/month:
Protect My Site with Managed-WP MWPv1r1 Plan

Why trust Managed-WP?

• Immediate coverage against newly discovered plugin and theme vulnerabilities
• Custom WAF rules and instant virtual patching for high-risk scenarios
• Concierge onboarding, expert remediation, and best-practice advice whenever you need it

Don’t wait for the next security breach. Safeguard your WordPress site and reputation with Managed-WP — the choice for businesses serious about security.

Click here to start your protection today (MWPv1r1 plan, USD20/month)